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  • Record-setting 23 Fulbright recipients top list of Baylor student scholar honors for 2025

    // Posted In Academics, Honors, Research, Student life

    Collage of headshots of the student award winners listed in this article

    Baylor students just keep upping the school record for Fulbright scholarship recipients. In 2019, BU set a new high with 7 Fulbrights; in 2022, that jumped to 14; and last year, 18 Bears were so honored.

    Given that trend (and Baylor’s continued national recognition as a top Fulbright producer), it should come as no surprise that that record has fallen again. This spring, 23 Baylor students and recent alumni won the prestigious Fulbright awards — and that’s just the beginning when it comes to the list of BU students winning top national and international scholarships and fellowships.

    This spring, Baylor Bears also earned four Goldwater Scholarships (another Baylor record); two Critical Language Scholarships, a Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship, and a Rangel Graduate Fellowship (all from the U.S. Department of State); two Boren Scholarships; and a Fulbright UK Summer Institute Award.

    Here’s the (lengthy) list of honorees, along with where the honors will take them:

    • Shelby Barnes (BS ’25), biochemistry/German graduate from Peoria, Ariz. — Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award to Germany
    • Shannon Barton, senior University Scholar from Georgetown, Texas — Boren Scholarship to study Korean in South Korea with an emphasis on STEM studies in medical sciences
    • Rebeca J. Blemur, history Ph.D. student from Woburn, Mass. — Boren Fellowship (African Flagship Language Initiative) to study French over the summer at the University of Florida followed by a year in Senegal
    • Devon Bolton (BA ’24), international studies/Arabic graduate from Prosper, Texas — Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award to Morocco
    • Connor Cabot (BA ’25), English/teaching/Spanish graduate from Wake Forest, N.C. — Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award to Uruguay
    • Sarah Chan (BS ’25), communication sciences & disorders graduate (BIC) from Houston — Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award to Laos
    • Taylor Chung (BA ’25), international studies graduate — Critical Language Scholarship to study Swahili in Arusha, Tanzania, at the MS-Training Center for Development Cooperation
    • Maggie Cielesz (BA ’25), political science/philosophy graduate (BIC/Honors Program) from Rockford, Ill. — Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award to Poland
    • Annalise Cornett (BSED ’25), elementary education graduate from Annandale, Va. — Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award to Spain
    • John Austin DeLozier (BA ’25), University Scholar graduate (Honors Program) from Orange County, Calif. — Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award to South Korea
    • Mike Ermis (BA ’25), history graduate from Montgomery, Texas — Critical Language Scholarship to study Russian in Latvia
    • Ava Frescura, senior biology major from Houston — Goldwater Scholarship to pursue a Ph.D. in toxicology
    • Eliana Galan (BA ’24), psychology graduate from Buda, Texas — Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award to the Czech Republic
    • Nikolas Gillaspie, junior history/political science major from Rutland, Mass. — Fulbright UK Summer Institutes award winner who will spend the summer studying Scotland’s history at the Fulbright University of St Andrews Summer Institute
    • Kiera Griffin, senior Science Research Fellow from Conroe, Texas — Goldwater Scholarship to pursue a Ph.D. in genetics and genomics
    • Simone Henry (BS ’25), neuroscience graduate (BIC/Honors Program) from Katy, Texas — Fulbright Taiwan Study/Research Award
    • Jake Hill (BA ’25), anthropology/religion graduate (Honors Program) from Weatherford, Texas — Fulbright Israel Study/Research Award
    • Mayra Honda-Shimabukuro, senior public health major from Ewa Beach, Hawaii — Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award to Timor-Leste
    • Tori Jones (BA ’25), international studies graduate (Honors Program) from San Antonio — Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award to Taiwan
    • Haley McAveney (BA ’25), international studies/Spanish graduate (BIC/Honors Program) from Santa Ana, Calif. — Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award to Mexico
    • Kristen Nakamura (BA ’25), University Scholar graduate (Honors Program) from Richland, Wash. — Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award to Indonesia
    • Allie North (BS ’25), Science Research Fellow (geophysics/planetary science) graduate, from Waco — Fulbright Germany Study/Research Award
    • Aliyah Ogden, senior Science Research Fellow from Algonquin, Ill. — Goldwater Scholarship to pursue a Ph.D. in neuroscience
    • Kathleen Quinn (BS ’25), neuroscience graduate (BIC/Honors Program) from Portsmouth, R.I. — Fulbright Ireland RCSI PhD
    • Karly Shepherd (BA ’25), University Scholar graduate (BIC/Honors Program) from Glendora, Calif. — Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award to Taiwan
    • Elizabeth Siatkowski (BA ’25), University Scholar graduate (Honors Program) from Oklahoma City — Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award to Argentina
    • Sacha Sims (BS ’25), biology graduate (Honors Program) from Atlanta — Fulbright UK Royal Veterinary College Award
    • Dayna Smith (BA ’25), University Scholar graduate (Honors Program) from Rockwall, Texas — Fulbright Austria Study/Research Award
    • Nicholas Storti, senior electrical & computer engineering major from East Norriton, Penn. — Goldwater Scholarship to pursue a Ph.D. in electrical engineering
    • Ava Watson (BS ’25), biology graduate from Huntsville, Alabama — Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award to Montenegro
    • Camille Watson (BA ’22), University Scholar graduate with concentrations and additional majors in Russian and Professional Writing & Rhetoric — Pickering Fellowship to pursue a master’s in Eurasian, Russian and Eastern European Studies at Georgetown University
    • Krista Wichterman (BA ’24), University Scholar graduate (Honors Program) from Washington, D.C. — Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award to Bulgaria
    • Isabella Zárate (BA ’25), international studies/environmental studies graduate (BIC/Honors Program) from Katy, Texas — Rangel Fellowship to pursue a master’s in international affairs or an area of relevance to the Foreign Service
    • Isabelle Zgorzelski (BA ’23, MA ’25), international relations/Spanish from Simi Valley, Calif. — Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award to Argentina

    (Learn more about each of the honorees and their awards in this press release.)

    “If you want proof that a Baylor education is successful in its aims to educate for worldwide leadership and service, then look no further than these extraordinary students,” says Dr. Andrew Hogue (MA ’05, PhD ’09), associate dean for engaged learning at Baylor. “More than simply a recognition, these awards represent for our students the opportunity of a lifetime — for study and research at the highest levels, for diplomacy and cultural exchange in communities around the world, and for leadership experiences that will bring encounter with human need and opportunities to promote human flourishing.”

    Sic ’em, Bears!